Prosecutors 'quite likely' to bring additional charges against Mayor Adams, U.S. Attorney's Office says

Federal prosecutors said on Wednesday that it is "quite likely" they will file two additional charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and add codefendants, who they say conspired with the mayor in his alleged public corruption scheme.

"We’re moving very quickly," Manhattan federal prosecutor Hagan Scotten told U.S. District Court Judge Dale Ho at Adams’ second appearance in the case, but said he did not have a definitive date for the new charges.

Last week, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams charged in a five-count indictment that for nearly 10 years Adams received free and deeply discounted business class air travel, luxury hotel stays and fancy meals from Turkish businesspeople and a government official.

The federal prosecutor also said that the same Turkish benefactors donated tens of thousands of dollars to Adams' mayoral campaign — a violation of federal election law — and hid the campaign cash through straw donors. Additionally, the politician is alleged to have circumvented the prohibition of foreign donations in the city’s matching campaign funds program, netting Adams millions of dollars in public funding.

Defense attorney Alex Spiro, who on Monday filed a motion to dismiss the bribery charge against the mayor, called it a "weak case."

Spiro dismissed the consulate incident, arguing that Adams was the Brooklyn borough president, not the mayor, at the time and had no authority to order the FDNY to do anything.

Prosecutors allege that after years of receiving secret campaign funds and free travel, Adams pressured the FDNY commissioner and other fire safety officials to open the Turkish Consulate in Manhattan ahead of a visit by the country’s president despite safety concerns.

Scotten said Wednesday that the investigation into Adams began in the summer of 2021.

In his motion to dismiss the bribery charge, Spiro said that the case was based on a single witness "with an ax to grind." He also cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found bribery charges can only be supported if the prosecution can point to official acts performed in exchange for gifts or money.

The defense attorney sparred with prosecutors during Wednesday's hearing, taking issue with, among other things, what he called a "fake raid at Gracie Mansion" on the day the indictment was unsealed.

"They have information — all four of them," he said pointing at the prosecutors, "that their key witness lied to them in this case."

The defense lawyer said that he did not want to delay the case. "We do not want this case dragging," Spiro said.

Most of Wednesday's hearing dealt with scheduling for the case and the sharing of evidence between prosecutors and the defense team.

Scotten said that turning over some evidence could be classified information that would require a security clearance to receive.

Other evidence includes emails, text messages, voicemails, photographs and other records.

Scotten said there would be email evidence from secondary witnesses acting on the mayor’s behalf instructing them to lie to the FBI regarding the alleged corruption scheme.

The judge declined to set a date for trial but agreed with the defense lawyer that the case should be resolved before the June 2025 primary.

Spiro pushed for the case to go to trial in February or at least before the end of March, before the certification of the ballots for the election.

"At trial, we expect the mayor to be acquitted," he said. "The process is quite different for an acquitted mayor, an innocent mayor from a convicted man. It’s a different process for the voters."

Ho agreed that the public and the mayor have a "strong interest" in resolving the case quickly. Nonetheless, he designated it a complex case and set the next hearing date for Nov. 1.